Sorry, but Mellenger clearly still doesn't get it.
He was on the right track until he spun right off the rails with a line straight out of the Kevin Keitzmann handbook:
Quote:
There would be no better path to the national championship than through a nine- or 10-school Big 12 without a league title game.
Missouri has won 40 games in four seasons in this conference, and it’s able to make a legitimate claim to being one of the nation’s top 20 programs without having to run the SEC gantlet.
Missouri could compete in the SEC, but it would have better access to the BCS and other major bowl games through the Big 12.
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Repeat after me: A 10 team XII is nothing more than a dead conference walking. Pledge media rights all you want - this conference will come apart the day after that 6 year period expires (if not before; UT and OU could pretty much deal with any penalty clause they wanted to if it came right down to it).
In the current landscape, you're growing or you're dying. There isn't stability in this conference, IMO. There
won't be stability in this conference unless some serious pride is swallowed and leadership wakes the !@#$ up (I don't anticipate either).
If they scrap the entire set of by-laws and conference regulations, take the B1Gs and adopt them, add at least 3 more teams (at least one of which is BYU and only one of which is a city college) and sign long-term contracts (i.e. ten years) with completely cost-prohibitive poison pills, then
maybe the conference can stay together, stablize and become a viable long-term home.
But I really don't see any of that happening. There is too much wounded pride in Norman and way too much ego in Austin.
And even if it did - I still think I'd want to jet. There's something to be said for running with the big dogs every week.